A few weeks later Fili was sitting at the kitchen table. He watched his wife cook while he sanded some wooden blocks for their baby. Suddenly Poppy gasped and pressed her hand to her belly.
Fili jumped up and ran towards her. "Can I help you? What's wrong?" Fili screamed in panic.
Poppy gasped again but then started to smile. "Our baby! It kicked me."
Fili sighed in relief and started to grin. "Can... Can I feel it, too?"
Poppy nodded and took her husband's hand to place it on her belly. Fili looked slightly disappointed because he couldn't feel anything.
"Maybe you should say something. The baby kicked me when you talked." Poppy said reassuringly.
Fili frowned. "But what shall-" Then he felt the baby kick as well and started to grin like a Cheshire Cat "Hah! Our baby! I could feel him or her kick!" He kept one hand on Poppy's belly. Then he saw some tears glistening in her eyes and cupped her cheek with his other hand. "Why are you crying? Does the baby hurt you?" He asked in worry.
Poppy shook her head and smiled. "No, I'm just very, very happy."
"Me too!" Fili wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her softly.
From that evening onwards they could feel their child's kicks every day. When they sat on the couch or in bed, Fili loved to put his head on Poppy's belly and talked to the child. Sometimes he even talked in Khuzdul, the secret language of the dwarves. Of course Poppy didn't understand anything but she still loved to hear his much deeper voice when he spoke his language.
#
In late autumn Fili received another letter from his mother. He sat down with Poppy and opened the envelope. He wondered why the letter was that short and quickly started to read.
My dearest Fili,
I'm sorry that this letter is so short. I just wanted to tell you that I gave birth to my dwarfling two days ago. We are both fine, but there was a big surprise for all of us.
Dwalin even fainted when Oin wanted to hand his daughter to him.
Yes, you read that right. We have a little lass. I'm so very happy. I always dreamed of a little princess when I was married to your father. Now I got one. She looks like her father and we named her Dwalis.
Dwalin is very happy, too. He even said, that maybe Mahal gave us a lass to punish Thorin for what he has done. It would serve him right to have no heir after what he has done to you.
Speaking of Thorin. The king isn't too happy about our daughter. One the one side he seemed to be happy and even smiled a bit when he saw the baby. But one the other hand he's angry because he still has no heir and wants us to try for another child as soon as possible.
I hope you, Poppy and your little baby Dwobbit are fine.
With love,
Your Amad
"I'm happy that your mother has the little princess she dreamed of. But your uncle! He's such a terrible dwarf!" Poppy exclaimed when Fili finished reading the letter aloud.
Fili took a deep breath. "It's the gold sickness. When we lived in Ered Luin he was different. He always was a stern uncle but he loved us and worked hard to care for us." Then he started to smile. "I'm happy for her, too. She deserves happiness and Dwalis will make her happy."
"Dwalis is a wonderful name." Poppy said.
Fili nodded with a smile. "Aye, it's Dwalin's and amad's name put together. In dwarven tradition it's normal that children have similar names to the parents and that siblings have similar names, too. Like me, my brother Kili and my father Vili."
"That's wonderful! Everyone notices immediately that you're a family." Poppy answered and kissed her husband.
#
The next weeks passed quietly. They couple finished decorating the nursery. There wasn't too much to do because they wanted to use the furniture that had belonged to Poppy's family and they had received a lot of baby stuff as wedding gifts. Fili worked on the weapons for Bree and Poppy often simply watched him or tried to do the household as good as possible. This became more and more difficult for her though after she had passed the sixth month of her pregnancy. A hobbit child would be born now but it didn't look like their Dwobbit would be born anytime soon. Her back and feet hurt and the baby didn't let her sleep because it moved a lot in her womb. One evening she chuckled and wondered if their baby had eight limbs instead of four.
One day Bilbo suggested to help Poppy with cooking and washing since Daisy had to work at the Green Dragon and Fili had to finish forging the swords. Bilbo was happy to help and to spend time with his friend.
Fili was happy about Bilbo's help for he worried deeply about his wife's wellbeing. She was happy but even the easiest things were complicated for her and no one knew when the child might be born. She could be with child only for a few more weeks but maybe even for months. Her bump was huge and it would most likely grow even more. He seriously wondered how Poppy should be able to give birth to such a big child. Fili prayed to the Valar every day and begged them to let Poppy and their child survive.
#
In the middle of winter Fili had finally finished the weapons for Bree. Poppy was now 8 months pregnant and had to stay in bed most of the time. Still she encouraged her husband to travel to Bree. He shouldn't anger his clients and they needed the money. Bilbo, Daisy and Camelia would take good care of her and she rather wanted Fili at home when the child was born than now.
So despite his worries Fili prepared everything for his journey to Bree. Two days later he sat next to his wife in bed and hugged her as good as possible. Then he placed a kiss on her belly and whispered something to their child. Poppy smiled at him and kissed him goodbye. Fili hoped that he'd still be able to see her smile when he returned.
#
Fili traveled to Bree as quick as possible. He stayed at the Prancing Pony for 3 nights and sold all his weapons. The men were very happy with their orders and didn't mind the long waiting time too much. Fili even received some new orders and was able to buy more metal for a very good price.
After three weeks the young dwarf returned to Hobbiton. He brought the cart to its owner and walked home. On his way he saw Pimpernel in the distance, apparently she had come from his smial. He increased his pace and after a few more minutes arrived home. He found Daisy and Bilbo in the kitchen.
Bilbo looked at him "Fili, you're back!"
Fili tried to stay calm and nodded. "Yes, is something wrong?"
"Poppy's labour started yesterday. Please sit down while we tell you what happened." Bilbo answered calmly.
Fili looked at Bilbo with wide eyes and feared the worst. He ran towards their bedroom and opened the door. Poppy lay in bed but was covered by blankets and didn't react when he called her name. He walked closer and looked at her face, which was very pale. Then he noticed blond hair sticking out from under the blankets. This had to be their child. Some tears started to glisten in the dwarf's eyes and he anxiously pulled back the covers down to Poppy's waist. He looked at the bed in shock for he had never expected anything like what he saw there. Fili eyes grew wide and then he fainted.
Daisy and Bilbo stood in the doorway and rushed towards him but the dwarf hit the ground like a piece of stone.
So, the moment we all waited for is here!
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